• ~Chapter 2~


    The arms in the layered robe sleeves wrapped around poor Elauria reminding her of how her mother would do the same thing with a giant fluffy towel whenever she comes in soaked from a rainy day. Within that remembrance, she wonders if her mother is gone just like her father. She had never thought of her mother in this manner because she had always sees her mother as a task master, not as a caring, affectionate human being. Now, with her father’s disappearance, her mind leads her to believe that she might be completely alone; no father, or mother, no one to care for her. Tears seep through her tightly shut eyes as she bear hugs the comforting stranger. She overheard the being coo to calm her down, unexpectedly causing her to sob even more. After a few minutes of this, Elauria finally remember what her parents taught to her about not trusting strangers and manages to open her eyes in fear of the worse.

    What greets her were not yellow shining dots but a warm hazel iris of brown and gold that smiles with wisdom. Her cheekbones are pronounced and her nose a smooth mound that’s neither pointed nor flat. Framing her earthy face are white pristine feathers tied to the sides of her thick, jet-black hair. Elauria stepped back from the woman’s embrace in a state of awe and saw that she wears large robe of intricate designs in various shades of brown and white. This woman, she figured, is a shaman of the first ones because she wears a crown of deer antlers as a healer would of those people. The first ones were indigenous to the country before Elauria’s ancestor come on shore. The second ones, her own people, did terrible things to the first ones throughout history and she never understood why. In her eyes, they are human like her and shouldn’t be hated. The wind blew behind the young girl, passing the distant between her and the strong stranger. Elauria notice wildflower petals whipped up by the free moving air. She traced it with her eyes as it circles the landscape. This is an open field, with the forest far away, lighted by the full moon and twinkling stars in the night sky. Eventually Elauria lands her eyes upon the shaman and embarrassment overcame her. She casts down her eyes and folded her hands in front of her as a proper girl should.

    “Do not be ashamed, child, for no one was meant to experience such things.” The shaman spoke with upmost serenity and strength.

    Wide eyed, Elauria gasped, “It was you!” She recognized her voice as the one who whispered her to run away from the dark being.

    The tall robed woman smiles back at her, “Yes, it was me.”

    This shocks the little girl for she swears she thought no one else was there when she encountered to tall, dark figure, even though she was gazing into those heartless eyes. “How is that possible?”

    “I spoke through your heart. You are one of the few people who could listen to their heart and act upon it.”

    Elauria touches her chest where her heart would be and suddenly bows in gratitude, “Thank you for saving my life.” Just as quickly as she was able to stand up from her bow, she blurts out her concerns, “But, what happened to my father? Where is he? Is he OK? I thought he was with me, but he disappeared. Please -,” She would continue on, but the shaman’s hand emerged from the sleeve to quiet her trembling voice.

    Guilt seemed to make the serene lady to bow her head as she seems to search for the words to explain. After a moment’s pause, she eventually spoke, “I do not know where your father is. But I suspect that he, among everyone else in this world, is lost to the darkness casted by the Shadow.”

    “The Shadow?!” Elauria exclaimed, “Who are they? Why would they do this? We did nothing to them!” Tears welled up her eyes as she screams accusingly. She clenches her fist as her heart burns in anger from the agony of her lost.

    The shaman sighs as she continues to gaze upon the ground, “The shadow did not come from this world but from the Void. They are not meant to come to this world, for it is not theirs to walk upon it.” Turning away from Elauria, the lady faces the starry night with continuously scanning eyes, “Someone had unlocked the doorway to that realm that connects to the other worlds.”

    “There are other worlds? You mean we are not the only ones dealing with this problem?” Elauria meekly responded; horrified to think that not only her planet wasn’t the only living world but also this ‘invasion’ is a massive epidemic.

    “Yes, there are ten worlds besides your own. Each world is governed by a dominating element.”

    This sends little Elauria’s mind reeling, causing her to hold her round head in a attempt to make the world stop spinning, “You mean there are ten elements? I thought there was only four – water, air, earth, and fire.”

    “Those are the basic elements that form what you see, feel, and hear. There are others, such as life & death, the mind & body, and also order & chaos. With earth, air, water, and fire, they complete the circle of elements.” The shaman turns back to face the child but noted how it seems to overwhelm her and a frown crosses her face. “I would explain more of what each contained in detail, but we do not have much time. Each of these worlds are governed by my daughters to make sure their world stays in that particular element.”

    Elauria tilt her little round head to the side wondering why she had mentioned ‘her daughters’. But she decided to ask that later since she is more curious of these worldly mysteries, “Why should it be in that element? Would it be better if it balances out?”

    “In this case, it would not. Your world, in order to survive, needs this balance of each element. However, this can’t be done all on your world. If we change one element to balance the opposite we might disturb another. Like a fly in the web, your world tangled with each strand of that attribute. In order to balance your world, we would have to adjust one of the worlds for this.”

    “I don’t understand how this works. Doesn’t this also hurt these worlds?”

    “No, it does not and I’ll explain why. Let us say your world has too much fire in its system. We can go to the realm of smoke & fire to decrease the amount of fire or go to the realm of water & ice to increase more of that water element because it is fires opposite. This doesn’t hurt these worlds because they are only governed by that element and not the rest. What we do on these worlds reflect back on your world and lead it back to balance.”

    A flicker of understanding lights up in Elauria’s eyes and nods, “So, in order to save this world, the other worlds would have to be taken care of?” The shaman, pleased that the girl was able to understand the situation, nods in an affirmative manner. Elauria crinkled her nose, “But, shouldn’t ‘your daughters’ take care of it themselves?”

    Shaman again bows her head with a worried look, “They should and I do not understand why. It troubles me that I haven’t heard anything from them since the shadow was unleashed unto your world.”

    Squinting her eyes and tilting her head, Elauria interjected, “But, why are they your daughters? How is it possible that they are able to control worlds?”

    The wise woman raises her eyes, gazing into Elauria’s very soul. Without seeing the lady’s lips move, she heard the whisper once again, “Because I am the mother, the creator of your world and theirs.” Her heart skipping a beat, she gasped in shock. Suddenly the weight of this situation fell heavily on her shoulders. Elauria’s mental wheel spins as she begins to process the whole ordeal.

    To save her father from the Shadow, they have to be sealed away somehow. Her world is a reflection of these ten elemental worlds. To defeat the Shadow on her world, they have to driven away from these other worlds. If the daughters couldn’t drive them away, someone have to. This person have to travel these ten worlds of the elements mind, water, earth, air, chaos, fire, body, death, order, and life. Only someone who is not lost to the dark can seal away these creatures of the Void. Once the Shadow is gone, the worlds will be back to normal. Her world will return to the way it was and she’ll have her father back just as before.

    Mustering all the strength she can from her tiny frame, Elauria asked the four words that will changed her life forever, “What must I do?”